Wine Reviews for everyone from the enologically astute to the casually inclined

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Castano Monastrell 2007 wine review by (PB)

Real time review: I just opened this Spanish varietal and the bouquet floats from the glass about a foot and a half to my nose with light milk chocolate and red fruit. On the swirl there is a little spice and some herbal hints and then a fairly awkward aroma I would describe as stinky fruit.

Palate--Cinnamon and green first impression with hot, shallow flavors with a finish that is once again herbal and a bit clunky. Some of this might relax as it has time to open.

Okay--15 minutes later (not a great deal of time but...) indeed it has relaxed a bunch and is fairly "okay." The bouquet reminds me of a dirty urinal (I was a janitor MANY years ago as a teenager) and yet--this will sound weird to be sure--it is a sweet, fruity, dirty urinal kind of smell that is a bit intriguing.

I'm sure the folks that make this wine are thrilled with this review--but the Monastrell grape tends to be a bit like this. And if my description of the odor seems positively negative, remember that some very classy Pinot Noirs are sometimes described as having a barnyard like smell on opening!

So, at $8, if you enjoy Monastrell, you should enjoy this. Raise a glass but maybe wear a handkerchief over your nose. :)

Post real-time review reflections: The wine is considerably better and just needed time to air out. The nice "urinal" smell I mentioned in the real time review is gone and this turns out to be a very decent wine! Moral of the story: be sure to breath even cheap red wines; it can mean a BIG difference!

6 comments:

I love Castano! Whats different with this wine vs others is that it opens up more and more the longer you have it open. I challange you to open the bottle and taste it, then leave it for a day, come back and it will be way better. Its that tight of a grape that it really needs to open up.

Overly negative review--as others have said, this wine isn't bad right out of the bottle but improves markedly after about an hour or two. I'd rate it about an 87, and the price is right! Ps. I didn't smell any hint of uninal...maybe your sniffer needs examining?

If you chance to re-read my review you will see that it was not overly negative; in fact, it wasn't even really negative, just objective. In our day of "be careful what you say at every turn lest you offend someone, we have become a culture of "truthophobes" (to coin my own term.)(PB) of the WCB